The Ashwinder Chronicles
by FairyTayle
Summary: Finn Jones is a boy born to a wizarding Muggle-born father, Dylan Jones, and a Muggle woman who died giving birth to him. When he receives his Hogwarts letter, he's eager to go — and while there, will cope with things far more dangerous and unpleasant than detention... [Rated T because possibly will include mild language. As another note, OCs are not only accepted but encouraged]
1. Prologue

Finn Jones wakes slowly, unable to work out why he feels so excited. Then it clicks and he realises — it's his birthday. His eyes light up and he leaps out of bed, pulls on his clothes hurriedly — shirt on backwards — then glances at the clock as he makes to go downstairs, taking in, for the first time, how dark it is. It's 4:30 in the morning — post wouldn't be coming too soon.

Disappointed, he sits down back onto the bed. He knew the _Daily Prophet_ would send its daily newspaper at five — they always did, by personal request. Due to this request, he always pays two Knuts instead of one. He smiles, reminiscent of a time when once, the owl had pecked at the window for five minutes — he had had a very late night that night, reading up on the procedure to become an animagus (Far too difficult to attempt, at least before he got into Hogwarts) and the owl had been rather irritable with him.

Not long later, the proud-looking owl soars out of nowhere, the Daily Prophet clutched in its beak. He opens the window and holds out his hand. The owl drops the paper into said hand, ruffling its feathers importantly. He drops two Knuts into the money pouch and it flies away.

He drops back to his bed, gazing at the front page. He blinks. The man on the cover blinks back, then snarls mutely up at him for a couple of seconds before going back to looking politely indifferent, though there's a wicked twinkle in his eyes. The headline reads:

 _SUPPORTER OF HE WHO MUST NOT BE NAMED_ _APPREHENDED BY MINISTRY OFFICIALS IN THE EARLY HOURS OF THE MORNING._

Finn suppresses a shudder. There was increased activity of you-know-who supporters worldwide — none cared that he was dead, just that they had the same ideals. Some were Muggle-baiters, others were murderers, some specialised in the Imperius curse. All were horrible. He reads on.

 _Garian Grant, age twenty-four, was found to be guilty of a total of eleven murders (victims listed below) and subjecting sixteen known people to the Cruciatus curse. He was captured whilst making an attempt on the life of Bartholomew Grain, a Ministry worker in the Improper Use of Magic Office. Mr. Grain was unavailable for comment. The Auror who apprehended Garian Grant wishes to remain unnamed. Garian Grant admitted that he supports you-know-who and is currently awaiting his trial._

Finn sighs, and flicks through the newspaper for other news of interest before tossing it into the bin with impressive accuracy.

* * *

About an hour later, his father wakes up and goes downstairs. He never knew his mother — she died while giving birth to him. He had put his shirt on the right way around as he waited for his father to wake. Dylan Jones was Muggle-born, but had been top of his classes once — Got nine 'Outstanding' N.E. in Hogwarts — and had been accepted into the Department of Magical Law Enforcement.

Getting back on track, Finn walks down the stairs, whistling lightly. Dylan looks up.

"Morning!" He grins. Finn returns the greeting and the grin.

"Hmm... Today is important, right?" He says, in mock thoughtfulness. Finn laughs and makes some cereal. Dylan doesn't press about birthday celebrations or the like, knowing Finn gets irritable and bored about this.

At about eight in the morning, a letter drops into Finn's lap. The owl, which had flown through the window Dylan left open — quite probably for this purpose — circles around the room and flies back out. Finn rips the letter open with an excited yelp. He reads through it, barely taking it in. Then he looks up. Grinning madly, he says, "I've been accepted!" The letter flutters down to the ground as Finn leaps from his chair, hugging his father with rib-cracking strength.

* * *

Finn was accompanied by his father around Diagon Alley. He had already gotten most of his schoolthings. His tawny owl — christened Theol — perched comfortably in its cage.

All that was left was a wand.

Finn hesitantly enters Ollivander's. There's already a boy coolly sat in the chair, with a pile of already-tested wands to one side. After another two, the boy is presented with a wand that works for him. Ollivander nods at the boy, then turns to Finn.

"Hello, hello..." He says curiously. He catches sight of Dylan and smiles. "Ah... Ten inches, flexible, unicorn tail hair, Yew wood?"

Dylan, blinking slightly in surprise, nods.

"Yes.. Yes.. Well, of course, I remember... Thirteen years ago.." Then Ollivander shakes his head. Without further words, he walks off, soon returning with a wand. Finn hesitantly takes it. A second later, it's taken back roughly with an exclamation of "Definitely not!" and replaced into its box. Another wand is thrust into Finn's hand. After a while of this, Finn boredly does some calculating in his head and realises, to his surprise, that Ollivander was about, at a rough estimate, one hundred and twenty years old.

Eventually, Ollivander finally finds a matching wand for Finn.

"Yew wood—" Finn was struck with an almost irresistible urge to say 'Would I?' but stopped himself. "—Dragon heartstring, twelve and a half inches, supple... Your wand." Ollivander says triumphantly. Finn smiles happily, then he and his father leave the shop, to wait for September the thirtieth with bated breath.

* * *

When that day finally came, Finn and Dylan hurriedly drive down to the station. Dylan accompanies Finn onto the platform.

Finn wasn't sure what to do — he was suddenly struck he probably would not see his father again for half a year or so. But Dylan gives him a light push towards the train, smiling. "Go on." He says fondly to his son. Finn hesitates a bit longer, then bolts onto the train.

He darts past several people, a small box kept well hidden under his jacket. The box was charmed to maintain high heat on the interior. One effect of this was it kept Finn warm. He slides open a compartment door and sits down. There's nobody inside it. He studies his reflection in the glass of the door.

His eyes were a deep blue, his hair — it had been blonde in his younger days, but now was a dark brown — hanging around his head like a large and particularly messy mop.

He scratches his nose and sighs. He wonders who'll end up sitting in the compartment with him as he sits back, zipping the jacket up. A second later he unzipped it as the bulge of the box was too noticeable.

* * *

 **A/N: I didn't want to end this so soon, but:**

 **Firstly, I want to get this story posted today and I still have to proofread it.**

 **Secondly, I wanted to make sure main characters that people offer up as OCs get introduced before the Sorting. (If anybody offers OCs; though they'll be accepted at any time in the story)**

 **Thirdly, I wanted to apologise for if my storytelling is poor in quality. I haven't written for a while and I was never the best, even when up to scratch. Also, this story will centre only on OCs. Albus Severus Potter, Scorpius Malfoy, etcetera, will not be featured unless unavoidable.**

 **If you wish to submit a question, messaging me directly would be preferable. If you don't have an account, review with your question and I'll try to answer it next chapter. If you wish to submit an OC, message me (or, again, review if you don't have an account) with the form below filled out.**

 **Name:**

 **Age:**

 **Gender:**

 **Blood status (Pure-blood, Half-blood, Muggle-born):**

 **Hogwarts house:**

 **Sexuality (Which gender they feel attracted to — straight is people who like the opposite gender from themselves [example: a man liking a woman], gay and lesbian are males who like males and females who like females, respectively, and bisexual is liking both genders):**

 **Appearance:**

 **Personality:**

 **Patronus (It doesn't matter if your character is a first-year who cannot perform the Patronus charm, unless your OC will not ever be able to produce a Patronus, this should be filled in. Try the Patronus test on Pottermore if possible for ideas. Note: You need an account there and once you have submitted it all to Pottermore you cannot resubmit.):**

 **Other information (Example: Animagus form [only allowing fifth-year OCs and higher to be Animagi, except for possibly one or two exceptions — you can request your character develop an Animagus form at some point if you like], subjects they excel at, spells they have created, pets... Pretty much anything you want to add.):**

 **Thanks for taking the time to read all my babbling crap! Please remember to give any criticism or feedback you think of — I appreciate it all!**


	2. The Sorting

**Nobody submitted any OCs so I had to do all the work lol. Thanks for the follows and favourite, though. That really motivated me :)**

 **P.S: Forgot to mention, people who submit OCs get a shout-out in the start of their OC's first chapter.**

 **Without further ado, we begin!**

* * *

Finn jumps slightly as the compartment door slides open. A boy walks in.

"'Sup." He drawls casually. "Mind if I sit here?"

"Uh... Nah, go ahead." Finn says after a slight hesitation.

"Thanks. My name's David Garvin." David says casually, sitting down.

"Finn.. Finn Jones."

"Pleased t'meetcha. Hey, what Hogwarts house are you aiming for? Personally, I hope I'm in Slytherin, myself.."

"Gryffindor." Finn replies, shrugging. David seems slightly irritable hearing this but doesn't pursue the subject.

"Any siblings?" He asks curiously. Finn shakes his head.

"I have a sister who's in her fifth year. Prefect, actually. Jaina Garvin. I'm just starting, though."

"Same here." Finn smiles. "Hey, did you hear about that wannabe Death Eater in the newspaper?"

"Yeah, that sucked.. Stupid, really, that people still support you-know-who."

"Yup. Especially as he's been dead for over twenty years."

"Mhm.. Any idea—" David is cut off suddenly as the door slides open once more.

"Anything from the trolley, dears?" The lady asks, smiling. The trolley is laden with food. Finn stands, pulling out several Galleons, and buys most of the stock, sitting back down again with his arms full of sweets, calling a muffled 'thanks' to the trolley lady through a mouthful of chocolate frog. He cocks his head at David.

"'Oo 'ungry?" He asks through more chocolate, then swallows hard.

"Sure." David shrugs lightly, and stands, walking over to sit beside Finn, promptly pulling open a bag of Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans and pulling the first one, an unpleasant lime green, out and eating it without hesitation.

"...Kiwi!"

Finn tries one next, and finds a yellow one. He eyes it apprehensively.

"Bet it's mustard." He mutters, then tries it. He shivers in revulsion.

"Close.. Salad cream." He says, disgusted. David laughs and pulls out a new, orange one.

"Hmm.." He ponders what it could be. "Carrot." He decides, and pops it into his mouth.

"... Correct! Carrot!"

Finn gets another. They continue in this way for two whole packets, though David point-blank refused a disgusting brown one, which Finn tried. It tasted crunchy and brittle and tasteless.

Comfortably filled up, Finn stretches out happily in his seat, David coolly seated beside him, slouching slightly.

"Mm.. Wonder when we'll be at Hogwarts." Finn says thoughtfully. David shrugs.

"Probably soon..." He says vaguely. "Also... What's that heat in your jacket? It's kinda lukewarm."

Finn sits bolt upright. "Uh.. Nothing." He says hesitantly, trying to relax back against the seat.

"C'mon, I won't tell anyone."

"..." He hesitates several seconds. "Promise?"

David nods. Finn thinks, then pulls the box from his jacket.

"It contains an egg. I found out how to hatch Ashwinder eggs — pretty much like this — and once hatched they live lives much longer than ones spawned from magical fires. And.. I didn't mean for it, but.. The Ashwinder bred with a dragon — a common Welsh Green — and.. You have to understand, I didn't mean for it to happen, but... Well.."

David's face is pale. "So that's an Ashwinder-dragon hybrid?"

"Yeah... I just wanted to make sure that it survived, so I brought it with me."

David looks at Finn for a moment as the latter tucks the box back in his jacket.

"You're mad." David finally says. "Taking something so dangerous into a school.. You haven't even seen one of those things after hatching, have you? You don't know what'll happen." David has turned a shade of green now.

"I just..." Finn's voice fails and he gazes away miserably. "Please don't tell anybody."

David struggles. The idea of being caught trying to help a kid hatch a dragon hybrid by anybody is scary enough to him, but he can't help but imagine his sister doing it. He struggles between thoughts.

"...Fine. I won't turn you in. At least, not for now. ...So, is there an Insulation Charm on that box?"

Finn, incredibly relieved at the change of subject, nods. "It was really difficult to perform — Insulation Charms being O.W.L level — but I managed. It's also accompanied with an Undetectable Extension Charm, which my father set up for me."

David looks impressed. "Neat."

And they smile slightly at each other, knowing a bond has formed between them already, linking them as friends.

* * *

Finn steps off the Hogwarts Express, followed by David, who casually jumps, though the effect is ruined when he stumbles over the robes that he pulled on in the train.

"Smooth." Finn snorts. He, too, is wearing his robes. David scowls and makes a crude hand gesture at Finn. The latter laughs.

"Firs'-years! Firs'-years to me!" Calls the giant hulk of Rubeus Hagrid. Finn looks at David, then walks over, accompanied by David.

Hagrid looks around at the small huddle of children. "Alrigh', now, four ter a boat!" He hollers, then climbs into one which shudders violently under his weight.

Finn and David leap into a boat. The box drops towards the water, dislodged from Finn's grip, and he cries out. David's hand blurs and he grabs it, handing it to Finn, who stares in awe for a moment before taking it.

"You could be a Seeker on a Quidditch team, reflexes like that."

"Maybe." David replies with a laugh as a small, shy-looking girl climbs into the boat. "I've always liked Quidditch."

"Yeah... I'm kinda crap on a broom, myself. Can barely fly. Though I never practised."

"Oh well."

Soon, the boats start. One person is missing. Their boat is close to the back out of the entirety of the boats, and they can see Hagrid in his boat, a lantern guiding him and all the first-years. Finn sits down, pulling his case forward and depositing into it the box. The trunk looks too small to even hold the box but the box goes down for a while, in Finn's hand. He stretches, then looks at the shy girl.

"Hi." He says lightly. She looks up, eyes wide, cheeks pink. Her brown hair hangs around her face prettily, curled perfectly, generally in contrast to the hair messily framing Finn's face. Her eyes are a gentle hazel colour.

"H-Hi." She squeaks slightly. "I'm.. I'm Emily Blake. Who're you?"

"Finn — Finn Jones."

"Nice to meet you."

"Likewise." Finn smiles. He thinks about what else to talk about. Before he can say anything more, David, having leaned too far, fell into the water with a hard splash.

Finn bolts to the edge of the boat, peering into the water in time to see David sinking like a stone. The boats continue onwards, propelled by magic. Only a few people had noticed David fall in, Hagrid not among them.

Finn pulls off his robes, revealing his casual clothes beneath them. He pulls off his shirt, takes a breath, and dives into the water.

It's colder than he expected, and he almost opens his mouth to shout in surprise, but stops himself. He can still see David in the murky depths. He powers downwards, lungs already burning, sight dulling at the edges...

Just as he nearly blacks out, he feels something — a tentacle — wrap around him and thrust him onto the boat, where he lands awkwardly, nearly landing on Emily. David is pushed up, too. He's not breathing.

Finn scrambles to him, and without hesitation places him so he's facing the edge of the boat before squeezing his stomach.

David, at the squeeze, vomits into the water. Finn starts to try again, then stops as he realises David's okay. Bits of the food David ate on the Hogwarts Express, half-digested, float in the water.

"What happened?" David coughs.

"You fell in." Finn replies nonchalantly as he pulls his shirt and robes on.

"Oh." David frowns. "How did I get out?"

"Giant squid." Finn replies, and sits back down, stretching slightly.

"...Wait, what about the egg? Where—"

"Relax. The box is in my trunk." Says Finn, indicating the case to one side, reading, in small writing on the front, _Finn S. Jones_.

"It can't fit." David replies dubiously.

"Undetectable Extension Charm. Dad's great at it. It's huge in there."

Emily sits in silence, listening curiously. Finn sits up, opens the case and leans into it, his upper body vanishing inside. A little bit later, he comes out, holding a copy of Newt Scamander's _Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them_. Kicking the case shut nonchalantly, Finn opens the book and begins to read. David raises an eyebrow.

"Looking for more dangerous stuff to hatch?" He mutters to Finn, so only he can hear. Finn grins in reply.

"I'd love a Lethifold." He chuckles softly. It isn't a joke — he's fascinated by Lethifolds.

"They think my grandfather was killed by one of them."

"Ah.. Sorry to hear that."

"No problem." David looks up at Hogwarts and nearly falls into the water again in amazement.

The castle is huge and captivating. Finn looks up, also enthralled, though he hides it well. He closes the book, replaces it into his case, then pulls his wand out, muttering an incantation. Steam billows out. He aims it at his trousers, which dry, and then dries David off, before blowing on the tip of the wand and putting it back.

"Why didn't you do that earlier?" Frowns David. Finn simply shrugs.

* * *

The castle. Even more incredible up close, they ascend the steps. Finn neatly walks up the steps as though the trunk weighed nothing. Emily watches him out of the corner of her eye — which is no longer hazel, but green.

Rubeus Hagrid looks around, then pounds on the doors three times with a hand the size of a dustbin lid. The doors are soon opened by Minerva McGonagall She looks around at them for a moment with green, calm eyes.

"Welcome to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry." She says, radiating an air of authority. "I am the Headmistress of Hogwarts."

Without further greeting, she turns and walks away briskly. Finn follows the other first-years inside while Hagrid heads up to the staff table.

Professor McGonagall is standing with a scroll of paper in hand, a stool beside her holding a ragged, battered, and, in some places, charred, hat.

"That's the Sorting Hat!" David hisses at Finn, who grins and nods happily.

"When I call out your name, you will come forward and put on this hat, which shall sort you into your respective house." She says, loudly and clearly. "You will then walk to your table and sit down." She unrolls the scroll.

"Doesn't the hat usually sing?" Frowns Finn.

"It was supposedly damaged in the Battle of Hogwarts." David shrugs.

"Blake, Emily!" Calls McGonagall. Emily squeaks in surprise and hurries forward, hair changing colour as she walks, to a light blonde. She sits down and waits fearfully as McGonagall lowers the hat to her head.

"GRYFFINDOR!" Cries the hat after a few seconds. There's a cheer from the Gryffindor table. Emily stands, starts to run over, then, blushing furiously, runs back to the stool, takes the hat off and puts it down. A teacher nudges another teacher and they both laugh slightly, seemingly reminiscing. The nudged one looks like he's the Herbology teacher, covered in encrusted dirt.

Finn notices some people take longer to be sorted than others. David, for example, hadn't even put the hat on before it screamed "SLYTHERIN!", but a girl named Kenta Worth was sat there for almost three minutes before she was sorted into Gryffindor.

Finally, Finn, as the — he does a headcount — seventh last person to be sorted, hears his name called out as 'Jones, Finn' and hurries forward. When he dons the magical hat, after a second or two, the hat speaks in his head.

 _"Interesting..."_

"W-What's interesting?" Asks Finn, muttering the words softly.

 _"You have no distinct house — Hufflepuff could do you well, smart enough for Ravenclaw, brave enough for Gryffindor and cunning enough for Slytherin.. Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw, I can see in your mind, that you don't care for, but you're torn between a Slytherin friend or a nobler house.. Not that Slytherin isn't noble..."_

Finn chews his lip. "I... I don't want to be Slytherin..."

 _"Very well... In that case..._ GRYFFINDOR!"

Finn takes the hat off and walks to the Gryffindor table, trying not to look at David. But he can't help a quick glance over to the Slytherin table. His heart pangs — David looks absolutely downcast. Then Finn sits down at the Gryffindor table and watches everybody else being sorted, the last six people.

Finally, Professor Mcgonagall rolls up the scroll and waves her wand — the stool, hat and scroll vanish and she heads up to the Head's seat on the staff table, addressing the school.

"My predecessor for this job — excluding Severus Snape — was Albus Dumbledore, and he believed in short speeches before feasts, so as not to keep you all hungry, and I have upheld that tradition. So all I have to say is — tuck in."

Food appears on huge plates and immediately, people are helping themselves. Finn grabs some buttered toast, spreads jam on it, and digs in, not feeling up for much else. After two bites he can't stomach any more, still nervous despite the sorting having finished.

Halfway through the feast, Mcgonagall frowns slightly and walks out, left unseen for the rest of the feast. With nobody to make the after-feast speech, they all head up to their dormitories. Finn halts at the portrait of the Fat Lady, unsure of the password. Emily runs up beside him about thirty seconds later, hair incredibly blonde, eyes a sparkling oceanic blue.

"Hi!" She says breathlessly. The Fat Lady looks bored.

"Hey, Emily." Finn smiles in reply.

"What's up?" She asks lightly.

"Are you two going to stay here and talk all day or give me the password?" The Fat Lady says irritably. Emily smiles apologetically at the Fat Lady.

"Metamorphmagi." She says, then adds to Finn, as the portrait swings open, "Something I can remember."

"Are you a Metamorphmagus, then?" He asks interestedly. She nods eagerly as they walk into the common room.

"Yup. My father was, too."

"Cool.. Wish I was." Finn says enviously. Emily smiles.

"Yeah, they are pretty rare..." She gives a light shrug. "See you tomorrow!" She says, and hurries into the girl's dormitory. Finn heads into the boy's, and five minutes later he's asleep.

* * *

 **Please review! Tell me what you did and didn't like! (OCs still being accepted.)**


	3. The Duelling Club

**Thanks to ShadyBlazin for his OC, Marius Rosier!**

* * *

The next day, when Finn wakes up, there's a boy sat on the edge of a bed — Finn realises it was empty last night, and presumably is owned by this boy — and there's two other boys, both of whom Finn saw at the feast. The three boys are chatting eagerly.

"Still can't believe—"

"Insane—"

"Wicked!"

"Always had a flair for dramatics." The new kid replies, smiling slightly.

"You flew here on a freaking Thunderbolt!"

Finn registers the name — The Thunderbolt was a new brand of broom, since the Firestorm brand, which was a follow-on series from the Firebolt — and sits up slowly.

"Huh?" He asks sleepily. The new boy looks over at him.

"'Morning." He chuckles. "McGonagall only stopped nagging me for coming here on a broom at about three in the morning."

Finn smiles dryly. "Good job talking your way out of being expelled."

"Thanks." The kid laughs in reply, and the other two meander off, sensing they're unwanted. "My name's Xavier."

"Odd name." Finn remarks. "I'm Finn — Finn Jones."

"Touché, then." Xavier smirks. "My last name's Phentermine. All my family have wacky names. My brother, Ascethe, he's in his second year now. He's a prat, though. Thoroughly kisses ass where he can and obeys the rules to a whole. Prefect in the making, I daresay."

Finn grins. "What time is it?" He asks, lazily checking his watch. He yelps a curse. "Breakfast started five minutes ago!"

Xavier bolts out of bed without another word. Finn calls after him. "Oi, you haven't gotten your robes on."

Even as he finishes pulling his own robes on, Xavier comes back in. "Hellfire, nearly forgot." He says irritably as he squirms into his robes. They bolt out of the door.

* * *

Finn, Xavier and Emily all enjoy their first week. Finn and Xavier excel in Defence Against the Dark Arts, Transfiguration, Potions and Charms (Though Xavier suffers slightly worse marks in Transfiguration and Charms, and Emily isn't the best in Defence Against the Dark Arts, Finn is brilliant in them all.)

Xavier is snoring slightly, mouth agape, drooling on his parchment which he had been doodling aimlessly on. Finn sits beside him, smiling wryly. He himself was only keeping himself awake because... He didn't really know.

They were in History of Magic. Professor Binns, the teacher, was a ghost. Apparently he was around when Harry Potter went to school (Though, thinking about it, so were many other teachers). Finn kicks Xavier in the leg and the latter looks up.

"Git." He mutters. "I was having a wonderful dream. In it, I never had to do History of Magic again. It was proper realistic too."

Finn snorts. "Look, I'm bored, when class is over, we get a free period. I wanna talk about what we can do — Whether it's pissing Filch off, helping Peeves cause havoc or something else."

Argus Filch, the caretaker, had recently found his cat dead from old age. Mad with grief, he had taken to patrolling the corridors, handing out punishments for being loud, or smiling too much.

"Hmm... Albus Potter has an Invisibility Cloak."

"How do you know?" Finn frowns.

"Harry Potter did, and James Potter apparently lost it in Hogwarts. But I've seen the Malfoy kid and Potter vanishing underneath a cloak before, while spying on them."

"Why do you spy on them?" Finn asks curiously. Xavier shrugs.

"So, you game?" He asks, avoiding Finn's question.

"For what?"

"Stealing an Invisibility Cloak."

* * *

They spent the rest of class talking about it. Binns never notices if his class is babbling excitedly or all snoring on their desks, and everyone else was either asleep or gazing blankly into space, so it was excellent cover. They knew the risk was high — If the Potter and Malfoy double act saw them, they were finished. If Filch found them stealing from fellow students, they were finished — same with Professor McGonagall, or any teacher, for that matter. Hell, even if _Alohomora_ didn't work on Albus Potter's trunk, they could potentially be finished. But the idea of an Invisibility Cloak was alluring to Xavier. Less so to Finn, but he still liked the idea. When they were finally able to leave History of Magic, their plan was perfect.

First step was to wait outside the Slytherin common room. Xavier knew where it was, though Finn didn't. They waited patiently. Then saw them. This was the next part of the plan. Finn and Xavier raised their wands, and in synchrony, muttered, " _Stupefy_!"

Twin jets of red light flash and Albus Potter and Scorpius Malfoy are blasted backwards.

"Wicked!" Finn snickers, bolting forward to grab the trunk.

" _Alohomora_!"

Nothing happened.

"Crap." Finn says after a pause. Xavier sighs and steps forward.

"Back up, Finn." He says. " _Confringo_!" The lock explodes and the case opens. Finn and Xavier root through it, but to their dismay, don't find the cloak. After a moment, they look up. Then they hear footsteps, one person, hurrying towards them from behind the corner. Finn's eyes widen and he runs to the wall. " _Mudblood_! _Pure-blood_! Uh... _Salazar_! No? Uh.. Crap.. _Tom Riddle_! _Basilisk_!"

At that, the wall slowly opens. He blinks.

"Really..?" He mutters, then hurries in. Xavier follows. The doorway closes behind them — a second later, they hear a yell at finding two apparently unconscious bodies. Finn and Xavier head into the boy's dorms to explore beneath the beds of Scorpius and Albus. Under Scorpius' bed, Finn finds nothing. Xavier calls to Finn, "Got it!" from underneath the bed of Albus Potter. Finn scurries over. It had been hidden behind a loose brick that slotted in perfectly. Xavier studies the silvery cloak with awe, then freezes as Potter and Malfoy start to come in.

Reacting swiftly, Xavier throws the Cloak over himself and Finn just as the other two come in. They're talking — the words make no sense, static to Finn's panicked ears. Albus dives under his bed and gives a shout. Then Finn jabs Xavier on the arm and jerks his head. They run, straight out of the dorm, straight for the wall, which opens again to let them out. They run past a Slytherin first-year with silver eyes and black, strangely spiky hair, but they don't stop running until they get into Gryffindor tower, then, panting, they start giggling, unable to stop.

* * *

"That was bloody brilliant!" Xavier says. "If you hadn't guessed the password..."

"Yeah... But they heard my name."

"How?"

"You said 'Back up, Finn.'."

"Hell."

"Indeed. ...If you take it, hide it somewhere.. We can wait a while before we retrieve it. We'll have to spend a bit of time away from each other so they don't associate us together and decide you were in on it."

Xavier thinks. "It's a good plan." He decides, but sounds reluctant.

"So what don't you like about it?"

"There's no other Finns here. You'd be held solely responsible."

"Hold on..." Finn mutters, raising his wand and murmuring an incantation. "...Nobody's been here in the last hour. Say you were playing chess with me as an alibi. With any luck they'll think they heard wrong."

Xavier frowns doubtfully. "Both of them?"

"Got any better ideas?"

"Fair point. Alright.. Any ideas where to hide the Cloak?"

Finn thinks. "No." He admits.

"Good job I have one." Xavier sighs.

* * *

There was a secret passageway, leading from the statue of a hump-backed witch straight into Honeydukes sweet shop's cellar. It had caved in a few years back, but the rubble, Xavier and Finn found, was perfect for hiding the cloak. They were just squeezing out of the statue when they heard Filch's rasping breathing as he stormed down the corridor. They bolt, and only just miss being found.

"That was close..." Finn mutters. Xavier nods.

"We should leave it there for the holidays. Maybe get it in our second year — Malfoy and Potter will have graduated by then."

"That's safest." Finn agrees.

* * *

Over the next week, Finn notices the silver-eyed boy spending a lot of time talking to David. They had seemingly become good friends with each other. Finn was glad — He still felt guilty about having to abandon David as a friend.

Thoughts of David and the boy escape him as he realises there's cracking noises ominously emanating from his bag.

He remembers putting the box, with the egg, into it.

Quickly, he makes his excuses — "I feel a bit ill, I'll see you later.." — and bolts, entering the first bathroom he finds, despite it being a girl's — it'd be guaranteed more privacy than the common room.

He shrugs the bag off and pulls out the box, which he has to drop because it's so hot. Suddenly, a voice, from behind him—

"This is a girl's bathroom, you know."

He turns his head so fast he thought he'd snap his neck. There's a ghost floating there, a pale girl who looked thoroughly miserable. He had heard the stories of who she was and knew she was Moaning Myrtle.

"Over the last few decades, more boys have been coming in here... Harry Potter, Draco Malfoy, Albus Potter, Scorpius Malfoy, and now... You."

He was pretty sure this was practically cheerful for her. "Uh.. Yeah. You must be Myrtle."

"How do you know?" She demands, firing up, suddenly aggressive with tears in her eyes. "Have people been talking about me behind my back? Gossiping? Of course they have, don't lie! Who would care for the feelings of a ghost? Who cares about miserable, moping, Moaning Myrtle?"

With a shriek, she plunges into a toilet. After several stunned seconds of silence, Finn looks back down at the box.

The cracking sounds have stopped. Smoke billows from a hole that was burned through the supposedly unburnable box. A dragon is forming out of the smoke, tiny but floating. Not that it had a choice — As smoke, it couldn't exactly land on the ground. It snakes around his wrist, somehow managing to touch him — immediately, he decides this species would be named Smokesnare. And he names the individual Zero, after a character in a book he once read.

* * *

When he got back to Gryffindor tower, Xavier and Emily were sitting in the common room.

"Where the hell were you?" Snaps Xavier. Then he blinks in surprise. "And what's that?"

Zero was flitting around Finn's head happily. Occasionally, he — Finn didn't know Zero's gender at first and had spent half an hour perfecting a spell to tell the gender of an animal — spat a burst of fire, narrowly missing lighting Finn's hair.

"I'll tell you now." Finn says, sitting down. "I have a lot to talk about."

* * *

When Finn was finished, Xavier stares in disbelief.

"Let me get this straight — You brought an illegal dragon hybrid egg into the school, the egg breaching the Ban on Experimental Breeding, and have carried it everywhere with you for the last two weeks?"

"Yes." Finn says evenly.

Emily looks on the verge of exasperated tears.

Xavier thinks for a moment, then says, "Wicked."

* * *

Yet another week passes. Zero shows signs of large intelligence and the ability to obey commands, as well as magical power — A Slytherin tried to hex Finn as he was walking past and Zero flew into the hex's path, sending it flying back with interest. This power gave Finn some ideas. He was thinking about it in the common room, then decidedly headed to the Owlery.

Once there, he writes out a quickly-scribbled letter, encloses about two dozen Galleons and had just sent it with his owl when Xavier taps him on the shoulder. Finn jumps and Zero spits fire at Xavier — Zero was now a foot and a half long, but hadn't grown for several days, which seemed to indicate his growth had already stopped, as he was growing every day at first. (He was also about two to four inches thick at an estimate — Finn hadn't measured him.) Xavier ducks under the jet of fire.

"What're you buying?" He asks interestedly.

"Wand cores."

"Why?"

"None of your business." He chuckles. "I'll show you if my idea works."

* * *

The next day, Xavier drags Finn to the noticeboard.

"Look!" He says to a bemused, half-asleep (Xavier had woken him up) Finn, waving his wand around under Finn's nose at the board. "They're setting up a duelling club!"

* * *

The Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher, Professor Mortis Nightshade, was hosting the duelling club, which would take place...

"Two days! It's in two days!" Xavier exclaimed.

Finn grins. "We'd better practice some stuff. I've mastered _Expelliarmus_ , _Protego_ , _Rictusempra_ , _Petrificus Totalus_ , _Stupefy_ —"

"Please," Begs Xavier, "I can't even do a Shield Charm properly under pressure."

* * *

The day before the club's debut, Finn got an owl. Xavier barely saw him come down from Gryffindor tower for the rest of the day.

* * *

Then it was time.

Emily, Xavier and Finn head into the large, unused room that had been prepared for the club.

There were five long podiums stretching at least fifteen feet long. The entire school was crammed to one side, and Professor Nightshade stood at the far end.

"Quieten down." He calls out, and the chatter that had been all around died immediately.

"I will choose five pairs a time. Each pair will choose a platform to practice on at my command, and only at my command."

"Xavier Phentermine and Emily Blake."

"Finn Jones and Marius Rosier."

"Alfie Nadi and Nate Hudson."

"Rena Hyle and Schi Tyk."

"What sort of name is Schi Tyk?" Mutters somebody in the crowd of students,

"And Hailey Marksband and Jenny Jazi."

One by one, people mounted the podiums. Finn realises, to his horror, he was paired with the Slytherin who had found Malfoy and Potter Stupefied, and revived them. The boy with the black spiky hair, and silver eyes. Since they only ran past him under the Cloak, however, he doesn't recognise Finn.

"Now," Says Nightshade, "I want you all to practice disarming. _Expelliarmus_ is the incantation. Decide who practices first."

Marius wanders forward. "You wanna practice on me? I've done a lot of disarming."

"So have I. Let's just watch everyone."

Marius nods, and they watch until Nightshade calls out, "Now, duel for real. First, you take your wand, and you bow to your opponent." Finn withdraws his wand, and bows. Marius mirrors the motion. "You can use any hex, jinx or charm you see fit." Nightshade continues. "One... Two... Three."

Bangs filled the room. Finn is only aware of Marius and does all he can to beat him.

" _Stupefy_ —"

Marius swipes his wand and the spell is repelled.

" _Rictusempra_!"

Finn raises his wand and repels it with a Shield charm, before sending a Blinding Jinx — of his own invention — at Marius.

" _Protego_! _Caecia_!"

Marius stumbles around blindly, looking like he can see but having immensely dilated pupils. Soon he manages to counter it, and he aims his wand at Finn but—

" _Incarcerous_!"

Rope spews from Finn's wand and binds Rosier's legs tightly. He drops, rolls onto his back.

" _Relashio_!" He cries, and scrambles to his feet just in time for—

" _Petrificus Totalus_!"

Rosier drops, the curse impossible to lift. Finn walks over, mutters the counter-curse and helps Rosier to his feet.

"Nice duelling."

"You too." Marius smiles. "I must admit, I did my best to win there. You're a good dueller." And he walks off.

Finn hops off his podium. They were second last to finish. He watches Xavier and Emily. Spells fly and collide and whirl as they dance brutally around each other, each trying desperately to win. Finn was impressed — Emily was usually not too good at spells of defence, but suddenly a Shield Charm throws Xavier off-balance and Emily flicks her wand, sending Xavier flying backwards. Finn and several others, Marius Rosier among them, applaud, deeply impressed by both parties' efforts.

Finn watched the rest of the duels interestedly, but none were as spectacular as Emily and Xavier.

* * *

Everybody is talking excitedly in Gryffindor tower, mostly about Xavier and Emily, but Finn hears occasional notes of his duel, too.

Eventually, everybody, tired of talking and commending the three friends, trickles into their dorms. Soon, only Emily, Xavier and Finn are left. The former heads into the female dorms. The latter two head into the male dorms.

Five minutes after lying down, Finn was fast asleep.

* * *

 **Hope y'all enjoyed this! Yes, I said Albus and Scorpius wouldn't do much in this story, that still holds true. This story's heroes are Emily, Xavier and Finn. Our enemies are assorted and will pop up over time — this needs plot twists to stay exciting — but for now, I'm logging off. Adios, amigos!**


	4. Not So Sweet Dreams

Finn wakes very early, about three in the morning. So he grabs a wand core and gets back to work on his project. Three and a half hours later, Xavier wakes up.

"Finn.. What're you doin'?" He mutters sleepily.

"I'm trying to create a glove that can repel most minor jinxes, hexes and curses, and, with practice, I'll be able to make one that absorbs them to be shot back in a huge blast.. With any luck."

"Cool — How far have you got?"

Finn slips the glove on. "Hex me."

Xavier thinks of a hex, then decides on one.

" _Rictusempra_!"

Finn catches the spell in his hand and it bounces back against someone's bed whilst sending Finn flying backwards.

"Smooth." Xavier says coolly. "Really well done."

"It needs practice.. We have about half an hour 'til breakfast, so.. And I'm not hungry."

"Neither am I. That's about an hour's more work."

An hour later, they try again. This time, Xavier's spell is absorbed into the glove. He shoots a couple more, then Finn shoots it all back from the tip of his index finger.

Xavier doubles over at the tickling jinx — is shot into a wall — goes limp at the Stunner — and the last spell does nothing notable to him, due to his being Stunned.

Finn points, and mutters, " _Enervate_." Before muttering the other counters necessary.

Xavier slowly sits up. "Christ..." He's left speechless except for that, staring at Finn slack-jawed.

"I got the idea from powerful wizards doing magic with their hands." Finn smiles sheepishly.

"Wicked... Really brilliant. Can you make one for me, too?"

"That'd be twenty Galleons per glove, please."

* * *

The duo enjoy showing off in the common room for half an hour, duelling with wands until Xavier disarms Finn, who catches the next two hexes and sends them back at Xavier, then, with a sweep of his hand, sends Xavier flying into a wall, though secretly cushioning his friend so injury does not ensue. Their performance continues being repeated a lot, until their next class. And Finn got several more requests for gloves (He gives them to people for thirty Galleons, five or ten off for his friends).

In the next duelling club, Professor Nightshade takes him to one side.

"Those gloves are impressive, Jones." He grunts — Finn has a pair now and is able to create one in under an hour. "But wands only, please, unless necessary." But the Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher is smiling as he says it. Finn smiles back and swears he won't take unfair advantages, then goes into the duel, once again against Marius.

They fight hard, spells flying. Finn uses two spells he created himself — _Caecia_ , the Blinding Jinx from last time, and _Simula Imperio_ , the Shadow Control Charm (Which was incredibly difficult to pull off — O.W.L or N.E.W.T standards easily.) However, Marius Rosier manages, this time, to beat Finn.

"Good job." He smiles as he helps Finn up. "You gave me an opening, though — When you grabbed me with that shadow-hand, you didn't block my wand. Make sure, when trying that, you pin someone's wand to face away from you."

Finn grins. "Thanks for the advice!" He says, though he didn't really need it — he had seen his own error. Marius gives him one last encouraging smile, then walks off. Finn wanders off, too. But at the door to leave, a girl runs up to one side.

"Hi!" She says breathlessly. "I saw that spellwork... Never seen anything like it before... Wondered if, um, you might consider joining the Charms club?"

Finn considers for several moments. "Why not?"

"Great! See you there — we meet every Sunday, ten o'clock." And she was gone.

Finn stands there a while. He hadn't imagined joining a club, but was surprised he had been singled out because of his magic. He wandered off to the Gryffindor tower feeling quite happy.

* * *

Flying lessons.

It was Saturday, a warm, sunny weekend — it had been snowing for a while though — and they were being taught to fly.

Their instructor looked around and said, "Gather 'round.. Now, each of you should step up beside a broom. That's it,.. Now, I want you to put your hand over you broom, and, sharp and commandingly..." She puts her hand over her broom. "Up!"

The broom flew into her hand. Everybody follows suit. Several catch their brooms perfectly, a dozen can do nothing with them, and Finn's broom flies up and hits him in the face, to the delight of Xavier and worry of Emily.

"You okay?" She asks concernedly.

"Yeah.. Fine.." Finn mutters as he picks up his broom.

"Now, mount your brooms and kick off on my command. One., Two.. _Three_."

Finn kicks away from the ground. He pulls his broom back to try and raise it. So far so good. He accelerates, shooting towards a tree, and turns back to fly back to everybody when he nearly hits it. He flies towards a goal in the Quidditch pitch, and flies through it, rolling on his broom as he goes. He watches Marius doing intricate flight movements and decides to try a loop.

That's when it all goes wrong.

He speeds forward, turns up, continues turning backwards to a full circle, then loses his grip and slides from the broom.

Yelling, he holds the end of his broom for dear life while it raises itself. Fifty feet... One hundred... He continues estimating subconsciously as he screams for help.

Then he falls.

The wind whistles in his ears as he drops like a stone, albeit one doing a lot of thrashing in midair. His vision darkens at the edges... He hears screams of terror... An incantation,.. Feels himself slow down..

* * *

 _"You fool... The Dark Lord_ will _return! It is just a matter of when, and by whose hand.."_

 _"B-But, sir... All of the Dark Lord's Horcruxes are destroyed.. How can he be brought back?"_

 _"You are foolish, Cecil.. Foolish... Who else broke out?"_

 _"F-Ferdinand Damiel, Quoneel Seria, Theodore Nott—"_

 _"Nott created a Time-Turner once, Cecil.. It was used in an unsuccessful attempt to bring back the Dark Lord... He also created another, which I do not know the whereabouts of.. But he can do it again..."_

 _"Master Grant.. Nott is to create a new Time-Turner, to bring about t-the Dark Lord's return?"_

 _"Yes, you fool — that was obvious... And I will be the man credited with the honour of bringing the Dark Lord back."_

* * *

Finn stirs. A realisation — the hospital wing. He looks around, wondering about his dream, then closes his eyes and tries to put the scenes to the voices.

A darkened room... Two men, one tall and radiating power, the other weak, a servant... He watched from low, catching sight of his paws every so often... But he didn't have paws.. They looked to be that of a ferret's, maybe..

He sits up, looking around again in search of somebody. Madam Pomfrey walks through, tutting.

"Quidditch always was dangerous.. You fractured your ankle on landing, dear. You won't be able to walk without pain for another ten minutes, but leave it half an hour to be sure." And she walks away again.

Finn lies back. After five minutes or more, Xavier and Emily wander in. Xavier has his hands in his pockets, the image of cool — Emily looks on the verge of tears.

He lets them babble a bit about how worried they were — Emily mostly — but before he can talk about his dream, Rosier walks in, looking sheepish.

"Hey." He says awkwardly. Finn feels resentful at the breach of peace between he and his two friends, but doesn't hold Rosier to account for it, and is able to respond with a nod and a "Hey." of his own.

"That was a cool move you tried... Ambitious though. I once tried it, after half a year of broomstick practice, and broke my wrist. I haven't tried it since.." He trails off into silence, unsure what to say. Then Xavier says, "Must have hurt like a bitch."

Rosier laughs; Emily looks reproachful at the language used.

The four friends chat a while. It was unusual that three Gryffindors should spend so much time chatting in such a friendly way with a Slytherin, but Rosier was different. He wasn't snide or cruel — he thought being Pureblood made you a better witch or wizard, but only due to a different upbringing to Muggle-borns, and magical children raised by Muggles, and was genuinely helpful with them, and seemed surprised when Finn said he was Muggle-born.

"Really? Wouldn't know it from how you duel — you're great at it."

When Finn replies commenting on his father being a Muggle-born wizard, Marius frowned.

"That should make you Half-blood."

"Well, think about... James and Lily Potter, for example. The former a Pureblood, the latter a Muggle-born. But Harry Potter isn't a Pureblood, he's Half-blood."

"That's different — you only get a Pureblood if you have a Pureblood witch and wizard as parents." Marius pushes politely.

"Makes you wonder where the first Pureblood wizards and witches came from."

"True."

Emily shyly chews her lip. "I'm Half-blood. My mother was a witch, my father was Muggle-born."

Xavier announces he's Pureblood.

"Really? I never heard of the Phentermine family in relation to Purebloods."

"Yup." Xavier says cheerfully. "My dad changed his name to Phentermine. Our family started about fifteen or more years ago."

Talk turns to siblings afterwards. Xavier talks about his brother in more detail, Emily tells them she has no siblings, Marius echos this, and Finn does, too. Xavier looks surprised.

"None of you have siblings?"

They shake their heads.

"Huh."

Finn suddenly jumps, remembering Charms club. "Is it still Saturday?"

"Yeah, just a few hours after you fell." Replies Marius. "Why?"

"Nothing, just.. Checking."

Eventually, he got Emily and Xavier alone, after he had been cleared by Madam Pomfrey, and told them about his dream.

Emily frowns thoughtfully. "Sounds like Legilimency. But it can't be — you're not powerful enough, by far, to perform Legilimency without realising." Her hair today was a pale blonde, and her eyes were pink. She looked amazing, but Finn, when about to compliment her, found his throat constricting itself, and couldn't get the words out.

"Yeah, I know. What d'you think?" He asks Xavier, who had been looking thoughtful.

"Well... I'm surprised Emily didn't suggest it... But d'you maybe think it was an ordinary dream?"

"No." Emily interrupts before Finn can reply. "It couldn't be. Finn, did you ever hear Theodore Nott's name before?" He shook his head at her query.

"Well, I remember hearing about him being in Azkaban for creating an illegal Time-Turner. And Quoneel Seria was a mass murderer who was born too late to join Voldemort— Don't be pathetic, it's only a name.." Finn had cringed.

"Just, please, call him You-Know-Who, or He Who Must Not Be Named, or something."

"Fear of a name—"

"Only increases fear of the thing itself, I know, I know, Albus Dumbledore's famous words..."

"Well, the point is, you knew none of these names before and they're real people."

They end up going to sleep brooding.

* * *

The next day, shock runs down the Gryffindor table as _the Daily Prophet_ spreads a story of a break-out from Azkaban.

Xavier, who always got the _Prophet_ delivered — Finn had stopped since Xavier shared his copy when he was finished with it — speed-read the newspaper then, looking pale, handed it to Finn.

Seven images, all of people — two women and five men — glared up at him.

 _MASS BREAKOUT FROM AZKABAN_

Heart sinking, Finn reads on. He recognises four names — Garian Grant (Thought to have helped in the breakout), Theodore Nott, Ferdinand Damiel and Quoneel Seria. He also sees another name — Cecil Hesai — that appears familiar, though he doesn't know why.

A flash — Everything goes black — a rush of images with sound to go with them —

* * *

 _The house is small and dank and infested with rats and cockroaches and giant spiders, most around the size of a dinner plate, one as large as a sheepdog. It trails the Master obediently, a pet, just like Cecil._

 _The viewpoint is set somewhere in a small crack in the wall's skirting boards._

 _"Master, please..."_

 _"You failed, Cecil... I told you to not let her escape... She knows where we are, that damned Animagus..."_

 _The viewpoint recedes into the wall like an animal retreating for cover._

 _"M-Master—"_

 _"Ah, Cecil... Alas, you remind me of Wormtail and the Dark Lord.. And you require some, ah, shall we say... Discipline, too.."_

 _Cecil starts to splutter, but doesn't get far. The Master's voice comes again, just one word, a strange word, nothing in English..._

 _"Crucio."_

 _And Cecil screeches in pure agony, and—_

* * *

Finn comes round suddenly, sat up, fork halfway to his mouth. Nobody had noticed except Xavier and Emily.

"The hell, dude?" Xavier mutters.

"You really scared us... Your pupils went really wide—"

"Dilated." Mutters Xavier under his breath.

"And you wouldn't respond and—"

"Easy.." Finn hushes her. He looks at her and his chest feels tight once again upon laying his eyes on her, like he should never look away. "I'll talk later. Too many ears here."

* * *

Finn had finished talking to Emily and Xavier by the time they got to the room used for Charms club. They looked at him, wide-eyed.

"Harry Potter had visions of whatever V- You-Know-Who, sorry, sorry... Whatever he was doing when he was feeling angry or..." Emily trails off.

"But Finn isn't a Horcrux for a ferret, is he?" Xavier notes dryly.

"I think it's a female Animagus, based on what I heard." He says quietly, and after a while, sighs quietly and enters the classroom, as unsure of himself as can be.

* * *

 **Yes, I'm planning a lot more than eight years of peace at Hogwarts! Over those eight years, Finn will endure loss, find new friends — and enemies — learn more about his strange connection with the Animagus, who the Animagus actually is...**

 **And I've been planning a plot twist involving Death Eaters, a Time-Turner and a friend of Finn's since the start. You'll want to stick around for this.**

 **Please review! Tell me what you thought!**


	5. Violet

Christmas edges nearer.

As it does, one day, on the cold twentieth of December, Finn finds Xavier, Marius and Emily and asks about visiting each other over the holidays. Emily and Marius are quick to agree, but Xavier hesitates.

"My family.. My family are going on holiday for a bit, then we come back in time for me to come to Hogwarts. I'm sorry.."

"No problem." Finn smiles. "I get it."

"Can I bring David Garvin?" Asks Marius hopefully. "You know him, right?"

"Sure." Finn says, with the pang of guilt in his gut, that always accompanies David's name, twanging. "That'd be great."

Finn, Emily and Xavier wander off, to Gryffindor tower, leaving Marius to do the same in the opposite direction. Except, y'know, not to Gryffindor tower. Because that'd be weird.

* * *

The trio decorates the Gryffindor common room with mistletoe, baubles, Christmas trees, tinsel and Emily manages a charm to bewitch five baubles to float around for several days, constantly changing colour.

When the holidays come, very few people stay at Hogwarts. On the Hogwarts Express, Emily, Finn, Xavier, David and Marius sit in the same compartment together, having managed to fit inside, and chat happily. David is quiet, listening to everybody talk, despite Marius and Finn's best efforts to get him talking.

When they get off the train, Finn shows off by making a huge, shadowy hand wave at them, though the effect is ruined when he loses concentration and the hand's pinky, ring and middle finger dissipate, leaving it looking like its index finger and thumb are portraying the letter 'L' for loser. Finn waves his wand and the rest of the hand vanishes.

Marius was coming straight back with Finn to his house, where the pair would wait for their friends. When Finn asks why Marius isn't going home to his parents, the latter sidesteps the question, saying, "Is that your father, over there?"

Finn drops the subject pretty quickly.

* * *

Three days before Christmas day, Xavier, Emily, David and Finn's presents (to and from people) arrive.

"This is addressed to David." Finn frowns, holding up a small box.

"Probably since he's coming here. Owls are proper clever at finding people. I think it might be a wizard-bred trait." Marius shrugs.

"Hmm.. Would explain why presents to Xavier aren't here. Just from him."

"Yup. Oh, cool, thanks!" Marius says, holding up Finn's present, which was a miniature Thunderbird model which flew around the room, causing tiny showers of rain, sometimes patches of unnatural sun and sometimes shocking the pair with painless but surprising static electricity.

Marius had shown Finn a Thunderbird egg he owned a week or so previous. Finn, in return, had talked all about Zero — who, as a matter of fact, was fetching Finn his presents.

"No problem — thanks for this, too!" Finn replies, holding up a special edition of Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, by Newt Scamander. Each creature had an image beside its name, of one of its species. The image was constantly moving. (Finn was particularly entranced by the Lethifold.)

"Hey, Xavier got me a Sneakoscope! It's a special brand, too, it folds up to be miniature for carrying it around! Gotta owl him with thanks..." Finn said happily.

Emily had gotten him a book all about obscure magic — spells, Animagi transformation and how best to do it, and lots more — along with a huge box of Honeydukes' best sweets and Weasley Wizard Wheezes' best products.

"Christ, this is a goldmine!" Finn laughs.

David's present was a small, cardboard box. Finn chews his lip and opens it.

Inside is an egg. Finn stares in disbelief, looking at it all over.

"What's that?" Marius asks curiously.

"An egg. He got me an egg."

"I know that." Snickers Marius. "I mean, what species?"

"Streeler, I believe."

"Aren't Streelers dangerous?"

"They're giant snails that change colour every hour and secrete poisonous slime." He replies in a deadpan voice. "Hold on, there's a note here..

 _Dear Finn,_

 _I hope you like this. Streelers are interesting creatures and my grandfather used to breed them. I tried to find a Lethifold egg for you but couldn't._ " Finn rolls his eyes and continues. " _Not sure when it'll hatch. Best wishes, David Garvin._ "

Marius raises an eyebrow. "Lethifold eggs?"

"Long story."

* * *

A day or two pass. Finn starts flashing back to.. Images. A woman, usually. Blonde hair, shoulder-length, piercing blue eyes, early twenties... He's not sure who she is or why he keeps focusing on her, but whoever she is she's persistent, as he is suddenly unable to stop thinking about her.

Then Emily and David arrive. A day afterwards, Xavier arrived.

"You said you weren't coming!" Finn hollers at him when he sees his best friend. The pair are grinning.

"Change of plan." He said cheerfully. "My family decided to stay at home this year. Mostly because my mother got sick."

"Ah. Shame."

"Not really, means I can get out of there for a bit." He laughs.

At the Christmas dinner, the Sneakoscope starts spinning inexplicably.

"That's odd, they're really good Sneakoscopes. Expensive too." Xavier frowns. "Shouldn't go off like that."

David looks like he's politely forcing interest. He also looks slightly nervous.

A few seconds later, Xavier looks towards David, then several things happen at once.

Xavier starts to say something — The doorbell rings — Dylan Jones looks up and heads to the door and the Sneakoscope stops whirring.

Finn tilts his head. Dylan sounds happy and surprised at the same time, chatting to whoever was at the door. Then he comes back into the room with a woman.

Shoulder-length blonde hair. Bright blue eyes. Early twenties — It's the woman who was popping up in his head. Finn blinks in surprise. She waves lightly.

The rest of dinner went by in a blur. Suddenly Finn was downstairs with Dylan and the woman. The others were upstairs, playing games. He tried to work out how the time had gone by so quickly.

"So, Finn. I assume you have a lot of questions." The woman says.

"Who.." Realising his voice is strangely croaky, he clears his throat. "Who are you? How do you know my name?"

"My name is Violet. I'm an Animagus and I work as an Auror. I've been tracking post-Voldemort—" Finn cringes "—Death Eaters."

"Y-You... You're the person I've been dreaming about? You're who I've been watching Death Eaters through?"

She nods.

"Who _are_ you..?" Finn mutters, head spinning.

"Well.. I'm Violet Jones. I'm twenty years old and an Auror, Half-blood, daughter of Dylan Jones and Rosa Maine."

"Finn... I'm your sister."

Finn stares, struck dumb, for several seconds. Then, as the reality of what she just said strikes him, she starts to tell him her story.

* * *

 **Short chapter this time, but I felt like ending on a cliffhanger :P**

 **Review! Criticise me!**


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